“I’m a spiritual person.” How often have you heard family, friends, and co-workers make that statement? The vast majority of people recognize that failing to acknowledge a spiritual side to life is almost a human heresy. We humans have this crazy idea that life without a spiritual component is somehow incomplete. Most people claim that they are spiritual, but when pushed for details usually just recite a litany of vague feelings suggesting that there is more to life than physical existence. So what exactly is it that they are experiencing?

We all scour the seashore of discontent searching for something of value, something to give meaning and purpose to our lives. We pick up a beautiful seashell, hold it to our ear, and hear the rumblings of a restless roaring sea. We think we have found the elusive spirit that makes us truly human. Excited, we head to the beach party and share our find with friends. We sit around the fire and pass the shell around like a peace pipe, each human placing it next to his ear and smiling at the sounds of the untamed spiritual ocean beyond. The therapy session is then interrupted by one particularly astute young man who after listening intently peaks inside the shell and finds it empty. It appears that the self-help beach party was smoking more than peace. They had all fooled themselves into believing that this emptiness was actually a spiritual encounter. As we all know, misery loves company, so mankind rallies around the gaping spiritual hole in their lives, holding hands and chanting their “centering words,” which in the end, only fills the empty chasm with groans of unhappiness rather than the contented sighs of the Holy Spirit.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash